Darts and Domestics
by BewareTheWeepingAngel
Summary: It started out an average day for the Doctor and Rose. 1:visit a new planet. 2:Anger the natives. 3:Run for their lives.But what happens when their escape attempt goes horribly wrong?Lots of Ten Whump!And slight 10/Rose.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Branches whipped at her face as she half ran half stumbled through the thick undergrowth of the jungle, hand in hand with the Doctor, the sound of an angry mob a little closer than she would've liked.

"How much farther?" she gasped out almost ready to drop from exhaustion having ran, what she assumed to be about a kilometer of very rough up-hill terrain.

"Not much farther" he said cheerfully as he risked a quick glance back to give her one of his big grins, "just over that hill!" he said, pointing just ahead of them.

Rose looked in the direction he pointed, and noted something that seemed to resemble a small, rocky cliff face more than a hill. "Please tell me you don't mean _that_!" she said, desperately hoping she was looking in the wrong spot. The Doctor glanced at her over his shoulder, then to the cliff face, then back to her again, seeming slightly awkward. "Doctor?" she asked in exasperation. "You told me not to tell you!" he replied defensively. Rose let out a very audible groan.

The climb hadn't taken long, soon the Doctor had hauled himself over the crest of the cliff and reached down to offer Rose his hand to help her over the edge. She took his offer without hesitation, not trusting her now rubbery arms to pull her the final distance to level ground.

Once Rose was pulled up and over the ledge she released the Doctors hand and flopped onto her back panting. The climb hadn't taken long, but it had taken a lot out of her.

The Doctor gave Rose a lopsided smile "tired?" he asked. Rose, to out of breath to do much else shot him a murderous glare. But the Doctors smile only seemed to widen as he turned away to watch the ground below for the mob. Once Rose had caught her breath she sat up and took in their surroundings. They were sitting in a sea of ice-green grass that seemed to rippled in the warm breeze, and if not for the small blue box she could see in the distance, would have seemed to go on forever, completely uninterrupted.

"Hate to interrupt your sight seeing" Rose started when the Doctors voice sounded in her ear having been so absorbed in the view that she hadn't noticed the Doctor come up behind her . "but encase you've forgotten there seems to be a very angry mob, holding a variety of very nasty looking blunt objects…" he paused to glance over his shoulder with some concern, the sound of rocks falling and yelling now becoming audible "who seem to be _very_ talented climbers, heading in our general direction."

"Isn't there always?" Rose said, smiling with her tongue sticking in between her teeth.

She was rewarded with smile in return from the Doctor, but as he opened his mouth to reply an arrow shot past, so close to his head that it had chopped off a lock of his chaotic brown hair in its wake, before hitting the ground a few feet away. He stared at the bits of hair floating in front of his face in shock, his mouth still hanging open, then regarded the arrow, still shaking from the impact with the ground, in horror, jaw snapping shut. He stayed that way for a second, before he yelled "Allons-y!" in a slightly higher pitch than normal, grabbed Rose's wrist, and took off at a pace that made her struggle to stay on her feet.

As they reached the TARDIS Rose could hear the angry yells of the mob quickly closing in on them. It hadn't taken them long to scale the cliff once they realized their targets were on top.

Rose refused to look over her shoulder to asses their pursuers' distance, and instead chose to watch the Doctor frantically search his pockets for his TARDIS key. She could now hear arrows hitting the ground just behind her.

"Doctor!" Rose exclaimed. "I know! I know!" he replied as he shoved his arm, up to his elbow, into a pocket that should have only been able to fit up to his wrist, a look of concentration on his face.

"Aha!" his face lit up as he drew out a small silver key, shoved it into the lock and thrust the door open. He turned, a grin that made him look slightly mad planted on his face, and reached out to usher Rose inside.

Just as she took a step towards the TARDIS doors the Doctor noticed something over her shoulder that caused his expression to change from gleeful to horrified. And before she had the chance to turn and see what he was looking at he had jumped forward, grabbed her shoulders from behind, and all but threw her into the TARDIS.

If she had been paying attention she would have noticed a sharp pain in her forearms where she skinned them on the floor grating. But the only thing that seemed to register in her thoughts as she fell into the TARDIS, was the cry of pain emanating from behind her.

The moment she landed Rose snapped her head around to see the Doctor, standing where she had been only moments before, staggering forward a look of pain and shock on his face, and a large black dart protruding from his neck.

**First chapter done! And I have no clue how many more to go XD. This was my first uploaded fanfic, so reviews and constructive criticism would be welcomed warmly ;) !**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Gah! I forgot all about the disclaimer last chapter .! Oops. Anyway, in case you were wondering, no, I don't own Doctor Who, it is the property of BBC.**

**A/N: No clue what A/N stands for but people usually put it in-front of announcements... Maybe it means announcements...plenty of time to look that up later, back on topic! Thank you to, Dengirl, The Lonesome Rose, Viper5336, and Scifigeekgirl for the wonderful reviews, and to all of you who have subscribed and/or favorited this story, its great to know that its being enjoyed :)!  
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**Chapter 2**

The dart hit his neck with a disturbing "thwhoomp"-ing sound, and was unable to stop a cry of pain from escaping his lips as he staggered forward, trying to regain the balance the dart to neck collision had cost him.

Unfortunately for him he happened to be very near the TARDIS threshold and wound up, instead of catching his balance, losing it completely and smashing his face into the TARDIS's floor grating, just behind where Rose had landed previously.

As he lay there dazed from his recent face plant, he felt someone, presumably Rose as she was the only other person present, grab him under the arms and drag him further into the TARDIS.

This was then followed by the high tempo-ed thumping sound of Rose running to the door, the door slamming shut, cutting off the sound of the screaming mob that he had nearly forgotten about… closely followed by a myriad of muffled thumping, presumably dart and/or arrows hitting the doors as they shut, and a sigh of relief from Rose.

He couldn't help but wonder how close they had just come to being living pin cushions…

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Rose walking towards him. Better get up before she starts to worry, he thought, and started to push himself off the TARDIS floor.

Bad idea.

He hadn't even managed to get onto his knees before his arms gave out from the pain in his head, nose, and neck, and flopped back down to the floor with a groan.

He felt Rose kneel down next to him, and lay a hand gently on his right shoulder. "Doctor? You okay?" she asked softly, concern very evident in her voice.

He opened his eyes to her face looking down at him, full of worry.

He gave her a reassuring smile "'m fine" he said a little more weakly than he would have liked thanks to his headache.

Her face went from concern to irritation "Doctor, your face is covered in blood and a dart the size of my blooming fist, is sticking out of your neck!"

He winced at her description. He hadn't realized that their was blood on his face, he hoped that his nose, that he assumed was the source of the blood as it was throbbing from where he smashed it into the grating, was not broken. And he had nearly forgotten about the dart, and just how much it hurt.

He had started to reach a hand toward the offending object to remove it when Rose grabbed his wrist. "Its not gonna, like, nick some important artery or somethn' if you pull it out is it?" Rose asked eyeing the dart suspiciously.

He paused, concentrating on where the dart was lodged in his neck. He noted with surprise that it had actually only missed a major artery by centimeters. If it had hit the artery in question he would have been in some serious trouble.

"It needs to be pulled strate up and out to avoid damaging the artery on the right side of my neck." He told Rose, brows furrowing in concentration. "I'm not going to be able to do that myself…" he trailed off giving Rose a knowing look. "You, you mean you want _me_ to pull it out?" she asked looking nervously in the direction of the dart.

"It'll be fine" he assured her "just make sure to pull it strate out".

He scrunched his eyes closed, the area around where the dart had hit was starting to burn, which in turn made his headache worse, which made him _almost_ forget about the pain in his nose. He hoped for the second time that it wasn't broken…

He heard Rose take a deep breath and felt the dart shift slightly as she grabbed hold of it. "On three yea?" she asked.

He grunted out an affirmative instead of nodding, not wanting to jar the dart into something important.

"One" Rose said as she quickly pulled the dart out.

He yelped in surprise and pain as he felt the dart yanked free of his neck.

"What happened to two and three!" he yelled indignantly, rubbing his neck wher the dart had been moments ago.

"Decided they were boring." She replied smiling with her tongue sticking between her teeth. Her expression froze, brows furrowing. "s'it supposed to bleed like that?" she asked with concern, inclining a finger toward the neck he was now nursing.

He paused, and brought up the hand he had on his neck to examine the blood now coating it, then glanced at the dart in Roses hind. Blimey it was huge!

"Considering the size of the dart its not surprising…" he trailed off looking at his bloody hand as if it was something offensive.

"How 'bout I go to the med bay and get some bandages yea?" she said looking at him with concern.

"Might be a good idea" he said distractedly, still staring at his now blood covered hand.

"Ok, I'll go get the bandages" she said "don't move." And she gave him one more worried glance before jogging through the door that led deeper into the TARDIS.

After she left The Doctor managed to pull himself onto his feet and walk over to sit in the captains chair where he began to examine his nose. To his relief it was not broken, and had seemed to stop gushing blood down his face. He then reached down to do an examination of his neck. It was still bleeding, but that was more to do with the wounds location than anything else, so it should stop bleeding soon, and as long as the poison continued to not effect him he should be fine…

He was interrupted from his examination when he heard Rose enter the console room. He turned to see her walking towards him with some disinfectant, bandages and a damp cloth in hand.

She sat down on the seat next to him and thrust the damp cloth into his hands. "Try to clean the blood off your face" she said curtly before turning away to attach some tape to a square peace of gauze.

"yes mam" he replied smirking, before he began to scrub the blood off his face and neck.

He had barely had the chance to finish his task when Rose leaned over and sprayed something onto the wound on his neck. Causing him to flinch back, nearly toppling off his seat, as yelped out a surprised "OW!". "What was that for!" he said once he caught his balance.

"Disinfectant" she said in a singsong voice, while smiling and waving the bottle in his face.

He gave the bottle of disinfectant a glare as he muttered "could have warned me first."

Rose just smiled sweetly, before leaning down to place the peace of gauze she had been applying tape to onto his neck.

As she pulled back he could see the worry in her eyes. "Rose—" He said intending to assure her that he would be fine, but was cut off before he got any further.

"Darts are usually equipped with poison aren't they?" she asked, still staring at the white square of gauze on his neck. "Yes, but—" he was cut off a second time as Rose stared him in the eyes.

"Was this one any different?" she asked, her eyes burrowing into him, giving a clear message of 'no lies'.

He sighed in defeat, "no, this dart was no different." He said looking down at his feet.

He heard Rose take a deep breath "so what was in it?" she asked.

He shrugged "dunno" he said still examining his converse, which he realized for the first time were coated quite thickly in mud. "I've only been to Saln'kier once before, and there weren't any natives to offend then… didn't even know they _had_ darts" he added rubbing the back of his neck feeling a little foolish for not thinking ahead.

Rose had paused a moment before shoving the black dart in front of his face "couldn't you use the sonic to, you know, scan it or somethin'?" she asked.

He took the dart gingerly from her hands, pulled out the sonic, then looked at Rose, a manic smile on his face, "Rose? Have I ever told you that you're absolutely _brilliant_?"

She smiled "maybe once or twice" she said coyly, "now you gonna scan that thing or what?" she asked a little more seriously.

He replied by turning on the sonic, buzzing it over the dart, and examined the results, which read *SUBSTANCE: VIRAL. TYPE: UNOWEN*.

"Well?" Rose asked impatiently.

"Sais its viral" he said rubbing his chin in contemplation "so, t'should be fine. You know, with my superior Time Lord immune system and all." He said while smiling and waggling his eyebrows at her.

"You're sure?" she asked, unconvinced.

'No' he thought "course I'm sure" he said.

She stood there, arms crossed, clearly still unconvinced. But before she could ask anything else, he tried to deploy a distraction by declaring "So, where to next?" while running crazily around the console pressing random buttons.

She looked like she was about to argue when a sly smile crossed her face "home." She answered.

He stopped his crazy whirlwind of movement and stared at her inquisitively.

"Mum called when I was in the med-bay lookin' for bandages" she clarified, as she smiled slyly "she wants me to come home for a visit".

The Doctor let out a loud groan 'this day couldn't possibly get any worse' he thought.

He of course didn't realize at the time how wrong he was.

**Reviews = cured distraction syndrome which result in faster updates... Pretty please *looks hopefully* **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Doctor Who, if I did Rose would still be with the Doctor, Donna would still have her memories, and Jack would be in a lot more episodes ;). But I don't, Doctor Who is property of BBC.**

**A/N Thank you to Scifigeekgirl for explaining what A/N stands for! And thank you to everyone else who reviewed last chapter! It's very much appreciated :D! **

**Chapter 3**

Rose watched as the Doctor cautiously opened the TARDIS door, poked his head through, and stiffen.

"Not again" she groaned, rubbing a hand over her face in frustration.

They where now on their third attempt at landing the TARDIS at the Powell Estate. First attempt, right place, wrong time, and they had nearly wound up lunch for a T-Rex. Second attempt, right time, wrong place, and they had nearly wound up crashing into a star along with the comet they had landed on...

"what is it this time?" she asked in exasperation.

"...Your Mother." he replied, visibly wincing as someone outside the TARDIS yelled "Oi! S'bout time! I called an _hour_ ago!" at the top of her lungs.

The Doctor turned to face Rose "s'not to late to change your mind you know" he said hopefully, giving his best 'puppy dog' look.

Rose just smiled and shoved him out of the TARDIS, relieved to have finally arrived at their intended destination. She then walked out and shut the door behind her as the Doctor regained his balance, his expression wounded.

"Rose!" Jackie Tyler exclaimed as she ran up and gave her daughter a tight hug. "Hi mum." Rose said smiling as she hugged her mum back.

"You two go on ahead" the Doctor said, inching himself backwards to the TARDIS doors, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I'm, Um, just going to..." he paused, took another step back glancing from Rose to Jackie. "Um, make some repairs to the TARDIS." he said, before turning hurriedly on his heel to try to get into the safety of the TARDIS before either of them noticed.

"Not so fast you!" Jackie said releasing Rose, and whirling around to face the Doctor, hands on her hips.

Rose watched as the Doctor turned to face Jackie, biting her tongue to keep from laughing at the look of innocence he had on his face. He looked as if he might have been about to say something, but Jackie cut across him before he could get it out.

"Don't think I've forgotten about your last visit!" Jackie snapped, giving the Doctor a stern glare.

The Doctor's look of innocence was changed to one of defense "Those explosions weren't my fault!" he said, his hands raised in the air. "Well," he said, running a hand though his hair "maybe one or two…" he paused, and thought for a moment. "Ok, maybe all of them." He finally conceded. "But it was the only way to destroy the transmitters that the Firarth had set up to—"

"I was talking about my bloomin' telly!" Jackie said, cutting the Doctor off before he went into one of his rants, that both Rose and Jackie new all to well could last for a good ten minutes, at least, once they were started.

Rose had to bring a hand to her mouth to muffle a giggle at the look of utter bewilderment on the Doctor's face as he stared at her Mum.

"Y-your telly?" he asked, still staring at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Yes my telly!" she said in exasperation. "You took it apart to make that radio-thing."

"It was a transmitter to blow up the… other, transmitters…" he corrected, pausing as he noticed the irony.

"And I put the telly back together when I was done!" he added in his defense when he suddenly snapped back to attention.

"And the screen hasn't worked right since!" Jackie countered. "So get up there and fix it!" she demanded, pointing a finger down the alley toward the entrance to the stairwell.

The Doctor stood there floundering for a second, then looked to Rose for help but all he got was a shrug and the smile she had been trying to hold back for most of the conversation. He cast one last longing glance back at the TARDIS before shoving his hands in his pockets, hung his head, and stalked off ahead of them, resembling a child who had just been sent to his room.

Once he was out of earshot Rose walked up to her Mum. "The telly was working fine when we left" Rose said.

"Howard broke it a few day's la'er" Jackie replied.

Rose smiled "thanks" she said.

"If the bloke won't look after his own health then someone has to" Jackie replied smiling softly to Rose.

"Oi! Are you two coming?" the Doctor yelled from the stairwell entrance.

"Go on ahead we'll catch you up in a sec'!" Rose called in reply, and watched as he slipped through the door, sure that she would have heard him mutter something about domestics if she had been closer.

"How long are ya gonna try to make 'im stay for?" Jackie asked.

"'Til I'm sure that the poison I'nt gonna effect him." Rose replied looking to the now closed stairwell door. "Now come on we'd be'er get up their before he manages to break somethin'" Rose said smiling.

"I wouldn' worry to much swee'heart, you an' I 've got the only keys." Jackie replied.

Rose just smiled knowingly and began to walk down the alley.

A few minutes later Jackie pushed open the door and entered her flat, Rose in her wake.

"Where'd 'e go then?" Jackie asked, poking her head just outside the entrance to the flat and looking around.

"He's probably already inside Mum." Rose said absently as she hung her coat up on a rack, and noted a long brown trench coat a few rungs down.

"Without a key?" Jackie asked closing the door and looking at her daughter inquisitively.

"His sonic can open locks." Rose said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Doctor!" she called, choosing to ignore her Mum's muttered response, to alert the Doctor to their presence. Their was no response.

"Doctor?" Rose called again, arching her brows as she walked down the hall toward the living room. Surely their was no way he could have gotten past her and her Mum unnoticed. So he had to be in here somewhere didn't he?

So why wasn't he answering her?

The first thing she noticed as she walked into the living room was the head of messy brown hair sticking up above the top of the couch, and the second thing she noticed was that that head wasn't moving.

"Doctor?" she said, a little more softly this time as she walked slowly to the couch. Still no response.

When she reached the couch she realized, with some surprise, that the Doctor was fast asleep. Sitting their, head lolling back, and mouth slightly open, snoring lightly.

Rose started when she heard Jackie cluck her tongue in disapproval.

"I'll go an' get 'im a blanket yea" Jackie said curtly.

Rose just nodded in response, not taking her eyes off the sleeping Doctor, as her Mum marched out of the living room to the nearest closet.

It wasn't finding the Doctor asleep that had surprised her, though he did not sleep often it would not be the first time she had found him conked out somewhere, and in much more unusual places then the couch in her old home.

No, what had surprised was that he had not woken when she had called him, let alone when she and her Mum had entered the flat. He always slept lightly, it took very little to wake him, and he had never failed to answer her when she had called him within hearing range before, awake or asleep...

She was abruptly interrupted from her thoughts as her Mum came up beside her and thrust a warm flannel blanket and a small pillow in her arms.

"Make 'im confortable than let 'im be" Jackie chided her, thinking Rose might have been considering waking him. "If 'e was tired enough to fall asleep in the few minutes he had before we go' up 'ere, than he needs it." She said, regarding him a little more softly than usual.

"When your done come into the kitchen and I'll make us both a cuppa yea" Jackie had said after second, then turned and tiptoed out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Rose was about to place the blanket on him when she noticed the sonic dangling from the hand, of the arm he had draped over his lap.

She picked it up and examined the tiny display screen, noting the same circular symbols she'd seen on the TARDIS monitor dozens of times before. Assuming that he had just been trying to determine what was wrong with the telly before he'd fallen asleep, she placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

She then continued to tuck the blanket around him, trying to convince herself that the nagging worry at the back of her mind was no more than paranoia.

After she had very carefully placed the pillow under his head, she proceeded quietly to the kitchen, giving him one last worried glance, before disappearing through the doorway to join her mother for some tea.

**Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed with opened arms :)! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who :(, it is property of BBC.**

**A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, favorite'd, and subscribed last chapter :D! And to those who reviewed on chapter three, I _will _be replying to every review... Just as soon as I get this math work out of the way... Sorry it took so long to get this updated, sadly my spring break has been a busy one :(.**

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**Chapter 4  
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After the stairwell door had shut behind him, the Doctor let himself lean against it as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

The burning in his neck and the throbbing in his head had gotten progressively worse since their trip to Saln'kier. Not to mention the bruised ribs he had gained during the unfortunate run-in with the hungry T-Rex…

He thought back to his two previous attempts at landing the TARDIS at Powell Estate.

Rose seemed to have bought his excuse that it was just TARDIS acting up, but it was really because his headache had been messing with his concentration.

He didn't want to worry Rose over nothing, but he was unsure how much longer he could hide his discomfort from her. He just had to hang in there long enough for his immune system to kill off the viral infection. So two, three hours tops.

He hoped.

The Doctor let out a strained sigh before dropping his hands to shove them back in his pockets, and started up the stairs to Jackie's flat.

_**ooo000ooo**_

Three flights of stairs and a short walk across the balcony later The Doctor arrived at the door to the flat. Leaving him feeling far more fatigued than it should have.

He briefly considered waiting for Rose and her Mother to catch up rather than just using the sonic to let himself in. So as to avoid a lecture from Jackie on the subject of breaking an entering.

But in the end decided against it for the fact that if he didn't _sit_ down soon he was going to _fall_ down. And he did not fancy having Rose and Jackie finding him passed out when they got up here.

So he pulled out the sonic, gave the lock a quick buzz and walked in, shutting the door behind him.

He hung his coat up on the far run of the rack before making his way warily toward the sitting room.

Once their, he flopped down onto the couch and put his face into his hands. He inhaled deeply and exhaled through his nose before he dropped his hands from his face to reach into his jacket pocket and withdraw the sonic-screwdriver.

He gave himself a quick scan with it and waited for the results, letting out a wide, involuntary yawn in the process.

Maybe he'd rest his eyes, just for a second.

He had just enough time before slipping into unconsciousness to remember that he had forgotten to remove his mud clad trainers before entering Jackie Tyler's flat...

_**ooo000ooo**_

"Where the 'ell did all this mud come from!"

The Doctor woke with a start to Jackie's outraged yell, and felt something small thump down next to him. He turned his head to see a small throw pillow leaning against his thigh.

He tried to reach out and pick it up but found something blocking his arms. Peering down at himself he noted a large orange flannel blanket draped around his shoulders. Narrowing his eyes as he blinked down at the blanket, he tried to remember how it had gotten their...

"Oi, you!" the Doctor looked up and winced when he saw Jackie Tyler, arms crossed, and glaring down at him in a way he was sure would send even a Dalek running for the hills.

"D'you realize that you've tracked _mud_ all through my flat!" Jackie exclaimed, giving his muddy, trainer clad, feet a light kick for emphasis. "You have any idea how long-"

That was as much of Jackie's lecture as he heard before his head, giving a particularly painful throb, required his attention.

"You alright sweetheart?" Jackie asked, going from irritation to concern at the Doctor's change in demeanor.

After a minute, when the pain began to diminish, the Doctor blinked open his eyes. "Oh, I'm fine" he said, smiling with an energy and cheeriness he didn't feel. "Now how about I fix that problem with the telly!" he said as he thrust the blanket from his shoulders and pushed himself up from the couch.

Only to be promptly shoved back down by a, once again irritated Jackie.

"You're not goin anywhere in my flat while wairin those!" Jackie stated, just before she reached down and violently thrust the Doctor's trainers from his feet.

The Doctor watched, a little taken aback, as Jackie left the room with his shoes, muttering something about rude aliens under her breath.

Once Jackie was out of sight he let his false energy fade as he sagged back against the couch.

His internal clock told him that he had been asleep for about an hour. Time Lords don't need nearly as much sleep as humans, and he knew that an hour of rest should have been enough to keep him alert and awake for twelve hours at least.

So why did he still feel like he could drop off at any minute?

He had begun to lean his head back when his neck gave a painful twinge, reminding him of the scan he had been doing before he nodded off.

He did a quick take of the living room and soon found the sonic sitting on the coffee table just in front of him. He reached out and picked it up before slipping on his glasses to examine the display screen.

"So what's the verdict?"

The Doctor had been so absorbed with the results being displayed that he jumped when he heard Rose's voice behind him.

"Wha-what?" he asked, turning to see Rose leaning over the back of the couch wearing an amused expression on her face.

"The telly?" she clarified, smiling and pointing her finger in the general direction of the television.

"Oh, the telly? T'should be fine, just give it quick adjustment with this" he gave the sonic a non-committal wave.

"I put this thing back together by hand when I'd finished with the parts I needed, it should be working fine, better than fine!" The Doctor went on, trying to distract himself from the pain in his head. "Leave it up to your Mother to find something wrong with something that's working perfectly, erm, fine…"

Rose laughed and cut in before he could get any further in his rant "I'd just humor her if I were you. She's already mad enough about the mud."

He gave an exaggerated sigh and pushed himself off the couch, flinching as his head gave a protesting throb.

"You alright?" Rose asked, eyeing him with concern.

"I'm fine, it's just a headache." he said, rubbing his temple "tend's to happen when you smash your face into a grated floor." he added with a smirk.

Rose gave a small smile back, clearly not convinced, but she didn't peruse it any further. "Do you want some tea while you're workin on that?" Rose asked giving a vague nod at the television.

"Ginger?" he asked, smiling hopefully.

"Yea ginger." Rose answered, unable to hold back a smile at his expression. "I'll be in the kitchen, try not to make the problem with the telly worse yea." Rose called over her shoulder as she disappeared through the doorway.

"Oi!" he called back indignantly, before turning back to the TV, smiling to himself.

His smile turned to a grimace as his head gave another painful throb. He pinched the bridge of his nose and put his attention back on the sonic.

According to the results the virus had attacked, and succeeded in weakening his immune system. It didn't look life threatening, but it did mean that it was going to take longer than he had originally thought to be rid of the virus.

He absently scanned the TV 'maybe he had something in the TARDIS to help with the headache...' He glanced at the results. A part had blown out from ware and tare; he _knew_ it hadn't been his fault.

He had a replacement in the TARDIS. He could just take a quick trip down find the part, and maybe grab a Time Lord equivalent to an aspirin for his headache while he was there.

He pushed himself from the floor, where he had been kneeling to scan the television, and headed for the flats door. He was about to exit the flat, not bothering with his coat for the short trip, when Jackie came up behind him.

"And where do you think you're goin?" she asked

"To get the part I need to fix your telly." he replied absently.

"Without your shoes?" Jackie asked, smirking with her arms crossed.

"Um..." the Doctor looked down at his white-socked feet. "I don't suppose I could have those back could I?"

Jackie shook her head "'m washin them, but you can barrow Howard's." she said, indicating a pair of sandals next to the door.

The Doctor looked at the sandals "the same Howard that keeps produce in his dressing gown?" he asked.

"Yes" Jackie stated simply, arms still crossed.

"Ah, well, thanks." the Doctor said as he slipped the sandals on and walked out the door.

It took him only a few seconds to reach the stairwell and begin to make his way down to the alley. He was relieved to feel that his headache was easing up, 'maybe his immune system was finally starting to kill off the virus.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind then the muscles in his right leg cramped painfully causing his leg to give out from underneath him.

And he tumbled the rest of the way down two flights of concrete stairs.

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**As usual reviews and constructive criticism are loved :)! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I am sad to announce that I have never, nor will I ever, own Doctor Who. It is property of BBC.**

**A/N: As usual a thanks to everyone who reviewed, subscribed, and added this story to their favorites last chapter :D! This has got to be my fastest update ever! *smiles proudly* and all it took was staring at this computer screen for a good 4-5 hours XD... Actually, I'm surprised I can still see what I'm writing...  
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**Chapter 5**

"I'll be in the kitchen, try not make the problem with the telly worse yea." Rose called over her shoulder as she entered the kitchen.

She heard him reply with an indignant "Oi!" as she began to pull out everything she needed to make two cups of ginger tea.

She heard the familiar buzzing sound of the sonic as she set the water to up to boil, and let out a sigh.

She wished he would just tell her what was wrong, because something was obviously wrong. Even if it turned out to be nothing, fatigue, a minor reaction to the darts poison, _whatever_! At least she'd have an idea what to expect and how to help him if he needed it! Why did he have to be so _stubborn_!

"OW!"

She slammed the kettle down and shoved her fingers in her mouth swearing under her breath.

She had been mechanically preparing the tea as she thought, and hadn't noticed that the water was not landing in its intended target until the scalding water had hit her hand.

She grunted in frustration and went to the sink to run some cool water over the aggravated area, before reaching into a cupboard to get something to put on the burn.

After applying some ointment and rapping a cool cloth loosely around her hand she finished preparing the tea.

When she was satisfied with the results she walked back into the living room with the two cups of tea, only to find the Doctor nowhere in sight…

"He's down in the alley sweetheart."

Rose turned to see her mother standing at the entrance to the hall that leads to the flats exit.

"Said he was getin a part for the telly." Jackie clarified when she noticed Rose's confusion.

"Oh." Rose said. She hesitated for a moment then, reaching a decision, walked up to her Mum and placed a cup of tea in her hands. "Here, I don't think I was gonna drink it anyway" she clarified "I'm just gonna take this one down to the Doctor" she added, indicating to the second cup of tea.

"Oh, you don't need to go an do that honey, he just went down to get a part he'll be back any minute."

Rose shook her head "No, knowing him he'll find something to tinker with while he's there." she said reasonably "by the time he gets back the tea'll be cold".

Jackie regarded her daughter for a moment before nodding in defeat "alright" she sighed "but don't be long, we 'ave some catching up to do."

Rose smiled and nodded before making her way out of the flat. She quickly made her way to the stairwell and started down the first flight of stairs. Once Rose had reached the first landing she noticed something brown in the corner. She arched her brows as she bent down to pick it up.

It was the Doctor's glasses.

'He must have dropped them.' Rose thought before placing them in her jeans' pocket and continuing down the second flight of stairs.

Only to stop dead when she heard that sound like a cross between a moan and a whimper. "Do-Doctor?" she called out hesitantly. Another moan, louder this time.

Rose continued to move down the stairs toward the sound. When she reached the last landing she turned, and gasped at what she saw.

There was the Doctor at the bottom of the stairs, lying face down on the floor.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled as she ran down the last flight of stairs and set the cup of tea roughly onto the floor, oblivious to the fact that she had just spilled a large amount on her jeans. "Doctor are you alright?" Rose asked, giving his shoulder a light shake to get his attention.

"Mmm." He mumbled before opening his eyes "that depends…" he said groggily.

"On what?" Rose asked

The Doctor looked up to focus on Rose's face "on whether or not there are two of you at the moment."

Rose gave an exasperated sigh "Are you hurt anywhere?"

His brow furrowed in concentration "My leg hurts." he said after a few seconds.

Rose looked up at his legs, which were half on the stairs, and noted neither seemed to be at odd angles. She hoped that was a good sign…

"Which leg?" she asked softly, rubbing his shoulder soothingly.

"Right." he said, still making no move to get up.

Rose shifted over to his right leg "I'm gonna roll your trouser-leg up alright?" she asked cautiously, more so he could brace for pain than to ask for permission.

He made to nod an affirmative, flinched, seemed to think better of it and gave a positive grunt instead.

Rose made a mental note to check his head when she was done with his leg, before she began to roll up his trousers.

After a few minutes of carefully inching the fabric up his leg, she had managed to get it up to his knee. Their was a large, purple, and very painful looking bruise but, to her relief, it did not appear to be broken.

She moved back to his head, leaving the pant-leg rolled up to avoid causing him more pain, and saw that his eyes were closed. Rose reached down and brushed his hair back to reveal a lump on the far left side of his forehead, just above his temple.

The Doctor blinked open his eyes to look up at her; his eyes seemed to be somewhat glazed but as far as she could tell he was not concussed.

"Can you sit up?" she asked softly, while running her thumb over his forehead.

"Lets find out." he replied before he began to try to push himself up and off the floor with a grunt.

He made minimal success before Rose had to intervene. Together they had managed to get him into an awkward semi-sitting position with his legs still stuck on the stairs.

He tried to shift his legs around so he could sit up properly but couldn't seem to manage it without a substantial amount of pain to his right leg. So Rose shifted back over, slipped her arms under both his legs and swung him around gently so his back was to the wall.

She gently laid his legs down so they were flat out in front of him before looking up to see that his head was lolled back and his arm was draped firmly around his ribcage.

"What's wrong" Rose asked in concern.

"Ribs are just a little sore." he gasped out.

Rose frowned before reaching out to pull his arm from his ribs and began to un-button his jacket and shirt.

He made no protests to what she was doing, which only brought her concern up a notch. When she had finished undoing the buttons she pushed the fabric aside to reveal his bare chest, his ribs almost completely covered in bruises.

Rose bit her lip and looked up at his face. His head was still lolled back and his eyes were closed, he seemed barely conscious.

"Doctor I'm going to call my Mum on my mobile so she can come down and watch you, while I go and get the med-kit from the TARDIS, okay?"

If he heard her he made no attempt to respond.

Rose went back to chewing on her lip as she dialed her Mum's number and put the phone to her ear.

"'ello?"

"Mum the Doctor fell down the stairs I need you to come down and watch him while I get the med-kit." Rose rushed out.

"Sweetheart slow down, watchya mean the Doctor fell down the stairs—"

"Mum please, just come down here" Rose pleaded "and bring that orange blanket with you." Rose added when she noticed the Doctor shivering.

She snapped her mobile shut before her Mum could ask any more questions and shoved it back into her pocket.

Rose looked back to the Doctor, still leaning prone against the wall. She reached out to brush the hair out of his face, hesitated then, on an impulse, leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

When she pulled back she fixed him with a concerned gaze before getting up and bolting out the stairwell door to the TARDIS to find the med-kit.

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**I think I like writing whump almost more than I like reading it ;). **

**I think most of you probably know the drill by now, "Reviews are loved blah blah blah Constructive criticism is awesome blah blah blah" ;P **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Doctor who, it is property of BBC.**

**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed, favorite-ed, and subscribed last chapter :D! Yay! Another chapter done! Despite all the school and writers block XD.  
**

**Chapter 6**

The doctor came back to consciousness slowly, and first things he noticed was that he was freezing and very obviously _not_ in the TARDIS.

'What had happened, when did he fall asleep, and more importantly, where _was _he?'

He opened his eyes to see a familiar graffiti-ed stairwell.

'Ahh, right, now he remembered. He had fallen down the stairs on his way to the TARDIS.'

The last thing he remembered was Rose pulling his arm away from his ribs…

'Where _was _Rose?'

That was when he noticed two voices coming from his right.

"Whadya mean we have to _carry_ 'im up the stairs! Couldn't we just take 'im out to that ship of his?"

"No, I just saw a group of students out there. If we tried to get him to the TARDIS they might spot us and try to call the police, or an ambulance."

The Doctor turned his head to see both Jackie and Rose standing in front of the first flight of stairs. Rose holding the TARDIS med-kit.

"We're never gonna be able to lift 'im up those stairs ourselves!"

Rose rubbed a hand over her forehead "Mum he's out cold, I've tried waking him, and we can't just leave him here. We have to at least try." And with that she turned away from Jackie to face him, freezing in surprise when she saw him awake and staring at her.

"Hi." he said, smiling weakly.

"Hi." Rose said, walking over to him and laying her hand on his shoulder "How are you feeling?"

"Cold, a little sore and…" he paused feeling the blanket currently laid over him brush against the skin on his chest. "Wondering why my jacket and shirt have been undone." he said raising his eyebrows at Rose.

Rose gave a small smile and half halfheartedly rolled her eyes "You said your ribs hurt, I needed to undo your shirt to see what was wrong." Her face became more serious "We need to get you to the flat, can you make it up the stairs?" she asked, indicating to them with her head.

The Doctor looked over at the stairs, noting the pain that was making itself known in his leg, ribs, and head.

'This was going to hurt'.

"Yea, I can make it, pains not so bad." 'he wasn't lying, just, stretching the truth.'

Rose raised her eyebrows at him and opened her mouth to say something about that, when the sound voices came from just outside the stairwell entrance.

Rose froze, staring at the door, before sliding her arm behind his shoulders to help him up. "Come on, we'd better hurry."

The Doctor pushed himself onto his feet with Rose's help, trying to ignore the protests his ribs were making.

Once he was on his feet Rose slipped an arm around his waist, before forcibly grabbing his wrist and pulling his arm around her shoulders.

'She knew him to well'.

"Rose, that's really not necessary, I can still walk." But the minute he shifted wait onto his injured leg it gave out from underneath him.

"Uh huh, I can see that." Rose grunted out as she tried to hold his wait "Mum, could you give me a hand please."

Jackie, who had been standing quietly in front of the stairs, walked over and pulled the Doctor's other arm around her shoulders. "If we fall down these stairs, I'm gonna kill you." Jackie stated matter-of-factly, while shooting the doctor a glare.

The Doctor was to busy noting how cold he felt, now that the blanket was no longer covering his chest. He was pretty sure that the stairwell was no where near cold enough for him to be feeling like this...

As they began to move up the stairs he had to clench his jaw to stop from crying out at the pain in his leg and ribs.

'Was it just him or was it getting _colder_ in here...'

By the time they reached the flat he was shivering so badly that he was having trouble staying on his feet.

Once they were inside Jackie and Rose were almost carrying him toward the bed in Jackie's bedroom, the same one he spent most of his Christmas in after he regenerated.

'His head was really starting to pound now...'

At some point or another Jackie must have left the room, because his left arm was now hanging limply at his side as Rose guided him to the bed. Which he more fell on than sat on.

'He was pretty sure that rooms weren't supposed to spin like that...'

"Doctor! Doctor can you hear me?" Rose called, but her voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a tunnel.

'Wait, why was she sideways?'

"DOCTOR!" he started as he heard her voice loud and clear… and inches from his face.

He blinked, the room had stopped spinning, his headache was gone, and he was no longer freezing. Aside from the throbbing in his leg, ribs, and the bump on his head, he was feeling fine...

'What in the name of Rassilon had just happened?'

He pushed himself up from where he was laying on the bed, apparently it was him that was sideways, not Rose.

Rose laid her hand on his shoulder to help support him as he sat up, apparently worried that he could collapse again at any moment.

"You alright now?" Rose asked.

"Yea, think so." he said blinking in confusion.

"So you gonna tell me what that was all about, or keep claiming that your fine." Rose asked with an edge to her voice.

He looked up at her, she was trying to look irritated, but he could see the concern in her eyes.

"The virus I was injected with has been trying to knock out my immune system, it had some success, ergo the symptoms I was having a moment ago."

"So your tellin me that all that was the symptoms to the virus you assured me you _wouldn't_ get?" she asked, giving him the 'I told you so' look.

"Yes, well, it seems to be gone now, so no big deal."

"No big deal?" Rose asked incredulously "Doctor a moment ago you were collapsed on my Mum's bed shaking so much I thought you might be haven a seizure!"

"Yes, and now it's stopped. No more symptoms, none, not even a headache. So I'm fine, really." He assured her.

The glare she gave him then could have competed with the one her Mother gave him this morning.

She crossed her arms "Then prove it." she requested in an even voice.

"Fine." he said before pulling out his sonic screwdriver and scanning himself.

"Set it so I can red it." Rose said as he began to read the results.

He made some adjustments to the sonic before shoving it in front of Rose's face smiling triumphantly. "See? I'm perfectly fine. Healthy as a horse." he said as Rose read the results "A very bruised horse." he added as his ribs gave a painful throb.

"You're sure it won't come back?" Rose asked uncertainly, all irritation dissipating and being replaced by her concern.

"No, if it was going to come back the sonic would have picked up some trace of the virus in my system." The Doctor said reassuringly.

"But what if they had the signature masked or something?" Rose asked.

Rose, she never ceased to amaze him.

"I would have worried about that if the Saln'kierians had the knowledge, or the means to do something like that, but they don't. They are still in their primitive stages of development." he said "I'll be fine."

"That's what you said last time, and look how that turned out." Rose said stubbornly.

The Doctor stood up, being sure not to put any wait on his right leg, laid his hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and said as sincerely as possible "Rose, I'm going to be _fine_."

Rose looked up at him biting her lip uncertainly before she responded "Fine, I believe you."

He smiled and opened his mouth to add something.

"On one condition." Rose said, giving him one of her smiles.

"And what's that?" he asked suspiciously.

"You have to stay here, in my Mums flat, until your injuries have healed." She said smiling coyly.

He groaned aloud. 'He should have known this was coming, why did humans have to worry so much?'

"You realize you're asking me to stay in this small flat, with your Mother, for probably…" he paused to calculate the amount of time it would take for his injuries to heal. "…four to five days, right?"

"Yea." She said simply, making it very clear she believed she had already won.

He looked at the way she was smiling at him, with her tongue poking between her teeth, and knew she was right, she had won.

"Fine." he conceded reluctantly.

Rose smiled triumphantly and gave him a hug that he gladly returned.

"Rose! I got the med-kit from the stairwell –" Jackie had come running into the bedroom with the TARDIS med-kit, only to freeze when she saw the Doctor and Rose hugging next to the bed. "What's this then? He all right now?" she asked.

Rose released the Doctor and turned to answer her Mother "Apparently."

"Oh." Was all Jackie said before setting the med-kit down, walking over to them, and smacking the Doctor in the shoulder. Hard.

"OW!" the Doctor yelped out as he stumbled sideways, onto his injured leg, and saving himself from falling over only by grabbing onto the headboard of the bed. "What was that for!"

"For makin' me thing you were about to keel over, _and_ for makin' me run up and down three flights of stairs to fetch that heavy med-kit!"

He knew he was going to regret his promise to Rose at some point or another. He just didn't realize it would be _this_ soon.

~~~~O~~~~~

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful.

Rose had helped him to bandage his injuries. A minor fractured leg, multiple cracked and bruised ribs, and a bump the size of a baseball on his forehead.

They had dinner, takeout, to which he was quite thankful. After all that had happened today, he didn't think he could handle Jackie's cooking…

And was now laying in a make-shift bed on the couch, contemplating just how boring the next five days would be.

He let out a wide yawn. 'He felt exhausted… He felt exhausted? He had already slept for an hour today, he should still be feeling rested for another— No, he was _fine_, the virus was _gone_' he assured himself. 'You've had a long day, it's not surprising that you're—'.

His thoughts were cut short as he was hit by a blinding headache.

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**I finally have a _solid_ plan for this story :D! I may even be able to estimate the amount of chapters left!**

**As always, reviews and constructive criticism are loved ;D!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. Doctor Who is property of BBC.**

**A/N: Finally, another update :D! Sorry it took so long, should have listened to my better judgment on writing two multy-chapter stories at once XD. **

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**Chapter 7**

_Thunk_! "Ahn!"

Rose started awake, and ran a hand over her face. 'That sound had come from the living room, one guess who caused it.' She glanced at the clock on her bedside table, *2:39 AM*, and groaned. 'Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was someone in the hall outside the flat...' She thought hopefully.

An image of The Doctor cowering in a corner, trying to explain a destroyed living room to her Mum, flashed through her mind.

Rose sighed, through the covers off, and swung herself around to a sitting position. 'If she found any of the electronics, in parts all over the living room, she was gonna kill him.'

She pushed herself from the bed and walked into the hall.

"Doctor?" she called groggily, as she entered the living-room. He didn't reply. 'He couldn't be asleep could he? She had never seen him fall asleep twice in one day before...'

Rose walked around the side of the couch, but instead of finding the Doctor in the make-shift bed on the couch, she found him on the floor, clutching the side of his head.

"Doctor!" Rose shifted the coffee table over so she could kneel down next to him. She put one hand on his shoulder and used the other to tilt his head up to face her.

"Doctor, are you all right? What happened?"

He stirred and, for a moment, just seemed to stare up at her with pain-glazed eyes. Rose was about to ask him again if he was alright, when he blinked, and the pain she had seen their was gone.

"Yea-yea I'm fine" he answered as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Just fell off the couch, and managed to, um, _re_-bash my head." He added, smiling sheepishly, still clutching at the side of his head.

'In the same spot that he had bumped his head the afternoon previously' Rose noted.

She sighed, stood, and then offered her hand down to help him up. "At this rate, I'm gonna have to start rapping you in bubble rap." Rose joked, smirking.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he accepted Rose's hand. "Says the jeopardy friendly one." He added.

Rose snorted, and was about to remind him that he was the one who took her to places where she _could_ be 'jeopardy friendly', but she never got the chance.

As soon as the Doctor was on his feet his eyes drifted shut, and he swayed dangerously to the left. Rose jumped out and grabbed his shoulder to stop him from falling back down to the floor.

The Doctor recovered a moment later, smiling apologetically at Rose "Sorry, got a bit light headed for a moment their." His hand shifted slightly away from the lump on his forehead. "Must be all these bumps to my head, maybe I should invest in a helmet…" He said, with that contemplative look that meant he was about to launch into a completely pointless rant.

But Rose wasn't paying attention. When he had moved his hand away from his head, she couldn't help but notice the smeared red mark it left behind.

"You're bleeding." Rose said in concern.

"… actually, a banana would be nice about now, does Jackie have any laying about?" The doctor asked, his musing's on purchasing a helmet somehow leading up to banana's. "…Wait, what?"

"You're bleeding." Rose repeated, indicating to his forehead.

The Doctor seemed to pause and take that bit of information in for a moment, before bringing his hand down to examine it.

"So I am." He said, regarding his now red hand with raised eyebrows.

Rose couldn't help but wince as the deep gash, cutting through the lump he had gained yesterday, became visible.

"Come on, we'd better go an' get that patched up." She said, as she pulled him to the bathroom.

"Rose, that's really not necessary . It's just a scratch, head wounds always look worse than they actually are." The Doctor complained, as he limped along behind her, his leg still smarting from the incident in the stairwell.

"Than you can explain to my Mum why you bled all over her flat." Rose was pleased to note that her comment had seemed to silence his complaints.

Once they were in the bathroom Rose sat the doctor down on the edge of the bathtub, while she withdrew the med-kit from the corner she had stuffed it in after its last use.

As Rose pulled what was needed out of the med-kit, she remembered the pain she saw in his eyes when she found him on the floor. 'That was more than just bumping his head on the coffee table. Even now, she could see the Doctor's eyes were still a little glazed over and dull. As much as he was trying to hide it, the headache was clearly back, which meant the virus was still there. She never really believed that it would come on so strongly one second and just disappear the next. That was the reason she used the excuse of his injuries to keep him in her Mum's flat, where she could keep an eye on him.'

Rose had finished pulling out what she needed and began to dab at the gash on the Doctor's forehead with a damp cloth. He had winced a few times, but stayed unusually quiet throughout the process.

When she was satisfied that the wound was clean, she placed a large bandage over top of it.

"Their, done." Rose said satisfied, backing up to examine her work.

"Thank you _nurse_ Tyler." The Doctor said, smirking at her, his eyebrow raised.

Rose smiled back and began to clean up the mess, and the Doctor got up off the edge of the tub to help her.

Once they were done, the Doctor shoved the med-kit back to the corner from whence it came. Turned back to face Rose, and stopped dead, eye's widening in surprise.

"Oh… That's not good." Was all he got out before his eye's rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled as she dove forward, managing to break his fall just enough to stop him from adding yet another head injury to the list.

She rolled him flat on his back "Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me?" she called as she clapped his cheek. No response. He was completely still, not even the slightest sign of movement. 'Oh no.' Rose thought, panic beginning to rise.

She leaned forward, held her ear over his mouth… and heard nothing. He wasn't breathing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: No, sadly, I do not own Doctor Who :(. It property of BBC.**

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite-ed, and subscribed last chapter :D! Sorry its been so long since the last update, school has been a pain =.=, chapter updates will probably be a little slow for the rest of this month... Anyway, new chapter, yay! Enjoy :)!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

They had just finished cleaning up the bathroom, and the Doctor was shoving the med-kit in the corner next to the counter.

The headache was still there, but it was a dull throb compared to the blinding pain from earlier. The virus was definitely the cause, but he didn't understand how it had gotten past the sonic… 'He would have to run some tests in the TARDIS.'

The med-kit shoved back in its temporary home, he turned to face Rose. Only to freeze when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. 'His respiratory system was going haywire, he couldn't breath!'

"Oh… That's not good." Was all he managed before he passed out.

_~~~~)O(~~~~_

The first thing the Doctor was aware of when he came too was desperate need to _breath_.

He took in a huge gasp of air, and promptly started to cough and splutter at the sudden intake.

He felt someone's shaky hands roll him onto his side, and rub small circles on his back

"Doctor , can you hear me? Are you all right?"

The Doctor waited until his breathing evened out before he looked up at Rose's concerned face. "Never better." He said, a little shakily, and giving her a weak smile.

Rose gave a small smile in return, but the concern never left her eyes. "Doctor, what happened?" Rose asked, still absent mindedly rubbing circles on his back.

"After you collapsed, y-you weren't breathing…" Rose trailed off and looked away from him, biting her lip.

As the Doctor began to push himself from the floor, Rose took a shaky breath and looked at him. "It was the virus, wasn't it?" she asked quietly.

He paused, half-way to a sitting position. "I'm pretty sure, yea. It-I lost control of my respiratory system… That's not something that happens on its own."

Rose nodded "Do you know how to get rid of it?"

"Not yet, but I'll go and run some tests on the TARDIS. Once I know a bit more about the virus, it shouldn't be hard to find the right antibodies to get rid of it." He gave what, he hoped, was a reassuring smile.

Rose nodded, looking down at her hands, which she had clasped on her lap. He could tell she was still worried, he didn't blame her. 'He had let this go on for far to long, should have run some tests yesterday. He must be getting cocky in his old age...'

She looked up at him "Doctor, I don't want you to change again." Her voice cracked a on the last word.

He sat up and pulled Rose into a hug. "Rose, I promise you, I'm _not_ going to regenerate." He assured her, as he felt her tighten her grip around him.

They stayed in each others arms for a few more moments, before the Doctor pulled back to look at Rose.

"Better?" he asked, giving her a wide smile.

It had the intended effect, because Rose laughed and gave him a watery smile in return. "Yea."

The Doctor let his smile widen even more, hoping to dispel the rest of her fears.

"Good. Now, how about you go back to bed, get some sleep, and I'll go down to the TARDIS and run those tests…" He said, pushing himself onto his feet. Hoping that his legs would hold him.

Rose seemed to be worried about the same thing because, as he stood up, she laid a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Nice try, but the last time you went down to the TARDIS alone you fell down the stairs, remember?"

He did remember, all to clearly. And was rudely reminded of the end result of that experience as Rose led him back to the sitting room. When he nearly fell on his face after putting weight on his injured leg.

Rose tightened her grip on his shoulder to help keep him upright. "Besides, you'll never make it down the stairs yourself with your leg the way it is." She added as they continued into the living room and to the sofa.

"I'm just gonna get dressed and leave a note for Mum in-case she wakes up. You'll wait here?" Rose asked. The question, to the Doctor, sounded far more like an order than a request.

He let Rose push him back down onto the couch, knowing there was no point in arguing. Besides, she was right, it wouldn't help anyone if something happened while he was down there alone.

The Doctor watched as Rose disappeared into her room to change out of her baggy gray sweat pants and pink t-shirt. He desperately hoped, as a sharp pain shot through his head, that he wouldn't have to break his promise to her.

_~~~~)O(~~~~_

They entered the TARDIS med-bay ten minutes later. Rose having exchanged her pajamas for a pink hoody and jeans.

As Rose predicted, the Doctor had had some trouble getting down the stairs with his injured leg but, with her help, he managed it without falling.

He walked up to the scanner at the far end of the med-bay. The machine was made up of a small medical bed, that would slide the patent in and out of the scanner, and the scanner itself was installed in the wall. Next to its entrance was a digital display screen, that served as both the control panel and a place to display results.

The Doctor walked up to the display screen and adjusted the settings, before removing his jacket, tie, and shoes, and laying down on the bed.

He looked up at Rose as she came up beside him, looking nervous.

"When it flashes green, tap the big-round button in the corner." He instructed to her, indicating to the screen.

Rose nodded, walked up to it, and let her hand hover over the bottom, right hand corner. "This one?" she asked, looking back at him for confirmation.

He squinted at the screen, having trouble seeing it from that distance without his glasses. "Um… No, other corner." He said, indicating to her left.

Rose dropped her hand and looked at the button he indicated. "It's square."

"What?' he asked, looking at her as if she had just dribbled on her shirt.

"You said to press the big round button, this ones square." She clarified.

"Oh, sorry. When it flashes green, tap the big-_square_ button in the corner. He amended, smirking.

"Your sure?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's a scanner Rose, what's the worst that could happen?" he asked exasperatedly.

Rose narrowed her eyes "It's your scanner, you tell me."

He paused to think about it. 'It could overload and blow up. Best not tell her that…'

"Rose, it's fine, when it goes green press the button." He assured her.

The screen flashed green.

Rose gave the Doctor one last skeptical look, before turning away to press the button. "Alright, if your sure."

Rose pressed the button, and a humming sound could be heard.

The Doctor gave Rose a reassuring smile as he was pulled into the scanner and just before she was out of sight, he saw her return it.

He felt the bed judder to a stop, and closed his eyes as the lights in the scanner turn on.

Moments later he emerged from the machine. He got up and Rose moved aside so he could see the display screen.

He examined the results, and his face fell at what he saw. 'Oh… This is bad, vary, _vary_ bad.'

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**As always, reviews and constructive criticism are loved :D! And I shall try to answer as many reviews for this chapter, and past chapters that I missed, as I can XD.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Only in my dreams.**

**A/N: Thank you to yaoilover6969, tenrosefanno.1, The Lonesome Rose, scifigeekgirl, Dengirl, Viper5336, sherlokiantreky, LoneAngel666, Lillibella for the reviews! And to all of you who favrited and subscribed last chapter! Its much appreciated :D! Gah! It's been _forever _since I last updated!XD Sorry, real life (exams) has been time consuming XP, not to mention my lack of muse lately... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)!  
**

**Chapter 9**

"Well?" Rose asked, growing impatient as she watched him examine the results.

The Doctor swallowed heavily and ran a hand nervously through his hair, before turning to Rose. "Well, it's not a virus..."

"What do you mean it's not a virus?" Rose asked, arching her brows in confusion. "Isn't that what the sonic picked up when you scanned the dart?"

The Doctor started rubbing the back of his neck "Funnily enough, the dart has nothing to do with this-the virus it contained was out of my system before we arrived on the estate." He said, looking away a sheepishly.

"Doctor," Rose reached out and grabbed his arm, stilling its movements "if it's not the virus from the dart, then what is it?" she asked quietly. 'Rose had seen his expression when he examined the results; he wasn't getting away with the 'I'm always alright' façade, not this time'.

The Doctor let his arm drop, but seemed lost in thought "It's called Vathlure, it's similar to your lots bacteria, only it's slightly sentient, and it only effects telepaths..." he glanced around the med-bay, as if to take stock of what was there "That's why the only thing I could pick up with the sonic was minor damage to my immune system-it must have a much lower frequency to effect...' the Doctor began to mutter absently, before he noticed the glare Rose was giving him "…What?"

"Damage to your immune system?" Rose couldn't keep the hint of frustration from her voice "When did you discover this?"

"Um..." the Doctor tried to move his arm to rub the back of his neck again, seemingly out of an instinctive reflex for awkward situations, but Rose still had a firm grip on it. "Your Mum's flat" he swallowed "didn't I tell you about that?" he added nervously.

She decided to let it go, for now, in favor for the more pressing matters. "So the Saln'kierians are telepathic?"

The Doctor seemed relieved by the topic change "Nope." He said, popping the P

"So, we have a bacteria that can only infect telepaths, on a planet that has no telepaths and no form of space travel, which meannns?..." The Doctor looked at Rose expectantly .

"...That their must be someone down there that doesn't belong?" Rose offered uncertainly.

"Exactly!" The Doctor exclaimed, as he yanked his arm from Rose's grasp and began limping around the med-bay collecting various chemicals and vials as he went.

"And chances are that that someone or someone_s_, are Coralites- a telepathic race from the same planet as the Vathlure." He let everything he just collected clatter onto an empty counter before he began searching his pockets for, what Rose assumed, were his glasses.

Rose fumbled in her hood-y pocket for a few moments before withdrawing the Doctors glasses, glad she had thought to bring them down with her. She walked over to the counter where the Doctor was still fumbling around in his pockets, and dangled them in front of his face "Looking for these?"

The Doctor looked up from his search, beaming when he saw what she was holding. He quickly took the glasses from her and put them on before he began measuring and mixing chemicals.

"Now where was I... Right! The Coralite have strict rules about interfering on planets with 'pre-space travel' life, so it's not likely they're down there on purpose. " The Doctor lit a burner and placed a beaker of chemicals on top, before spinning around to lean against the counter. " Probably crash landed, and are in need of some help, which is where we come in!" He gave Rose a dazzling smile before turning away and flicking off the burner. He reached out to his left and retrieved a hand towel, that Rose could've sworn wasn't there before, and used it to set the beaker on the counter to cool without burning his hands.

"But, what about the Valthlare? Rose asked, trying to keep him from dodging off the topic.

"Vathl_ure_," he corrected her "and didn't I say?...No, I didn't, must've got a bit ahead of my self there…"

"Anyway" the Doctor said as he checked the beaker to see if it had cooled down "The elements needed to create an effective chemical repellent-can't use antibodies, it's a smi-sentient bacteria, would be far to good at fighting back- is located on Corala. But I can't land there without putting the TARDIS at risk." He paused when he saw the look Rose was giving him "The TARDIS is a telepathic life form, if I land her on a planet crawling with Vathlure there's a very good chance she would become infected." The Doctor explained patently.

"So… You think the Corralites stranded down on Saln'kier have what you need to make the chemical repellant?" Rose asked uncertainly.

The Doctor beamed, clearly pleased that Rose was keeping up with him "Exactly!... Well, not so much think so as know so." He said, rubbing his chin with one hand and absently picking the beaker up with the other. "They're a peaceful race, and dislike the thought of causing harm to other life forms - intentional or not – so they should, at the very least, have the raw materials needed to make it." The Doctor explained as he walked with the beaker, to a machine with a funnel attachment in the corner of the med-bay.

"But what if you keel over while were out there!" Rose burst out in frustration. "And don't you dare tell me that that's not likely to happen! In the eight hours we were at my Mum's you collapsed three times, two of which you wound up unconscious!"

"That would be what this is for." The Doctor said, indicating to the muddy green liquid swirling in the glass container, not seeming to notice Rose's anger "Honestly Rose, why did you think I was mixing all those chemicals?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he regarded her.

Rose didn't know how to answer. To be honest, she had been to preoccupied by he worry over the Time Lord to pay attention to what he was doing. So she settled for the obvious question "What _is_ it for?"

The Doctor shook gave an exaggerated sigh and shook his head, as he muttered something about how dense humans could be.

"It's a distraction for the Vathlure, should keep the bacteria busy for about ohh... five hours. More than enough time for us to find the Coralite, get the cure, and send them home!" He said, his optimism sounding forced.

His answer concerned Rose, usually that would be his cue to give a long, complicated speech about what it was and how it worked. And was it just her or had he gotten paler…

The Doctor gave Rose a tight smile before trying to pour the beakers contents down the funnel on the top of the machine, but his hands had began to shake, nearly dropping it in the process. Rose reached out and pressed her hands over his, just in time to keep the beaker slipping from his fingertips.

She looked up at him, he wasn't meeting her eyes, but she could see the lines of pain and exhaustion on his face. Why didn't he just tell her he was in pain, just let her help him when he clearly needed it?...

Once all of the liquid had been poured down the funnel and the beaker set aside, Rose reached out and gently laid her hand on the Doctors arm. "Doctor, if you don't get the cure in five hours, what's this thing gonna do to you?"

The Doctor gave Rose a reassuring smile "It's not going to come to that, so no need to dwell on it."

"Doctor, please." Rose pleaded, tightening her grip on his arm.

The Doctor's grin faded as his expression turned to one of guilt. "It will kill me." He said softly.'

"And you'll regenerate?" The Doctor didn't answer Rose's question, but the look on his face was answer enough. "Oh God."

The Doctor pulled Rose into a hug. "The Vathlure survive by feeding off the electrical currents in the brain which in itself, with the fractional amount they take, is neither fatal nor leaves any permanent damage, it's the byproduct they leave behind that's dangerous. It will block signals in my brain from reaching the rest of my body, causing most of my major organs to shut down, and stop my body from receiving the signal that initiates regeneration… If it gets that far, I won't be able to come back…" he said quietly, rubbing his thumb absently over Rose's shoulder. "But we have five hours Rose, before that happens, five hours, we can do that."

It sounded to Rose like he was trying to convince himself as much as her.

When the Doctor pulled back he gave her a small smile. "You ok?"

Rose looked him in the eyes "Are you?"

"Yea" the Doctor replied quietly.

Rose nodded "Than yes, I'm ok."

The Doctor smiled softly in acknowledgment.

"I'm going to go set the coordinates for Saln'kier, could you wait here for this to finish?" he asked, indicating to the machine behind him.

Rose nodded "Yea. Um, how do I know when it's done?"

"Don't worry, you'll know." The Doctor gave Rose one last reassuring smile before half running half limping out of the med-bay and down the corridor toward the console room.

Rose watched him until he was out of sight before turning and leaning heavily against the counter. When he smiled at her she could see it didn't reach his eyes, could tell he was still in quite a bit of pain. They had worked on tighter deadlines than this before, and with the sonic screwdriver to help them track the Coralite their biggest worry was avoiding the natives. It should be easy…

Maybe it was just because it was the Doctors life on the line this time, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong...

A 'blow horn' worthy "_ding_" echoed through the med-bay, making Rose nearly fall over snapped her from her thoughts 'why does he have that thing so _loud_?'. She turned to see four small glass jars sitting neatly in a tray below the machine the Doctor told her to watch.

Rose sighed, pushing thoughts of doom aside as she leaned down to pick them up, before turning and walking out the med-bay door.


End file.
